The Beginning: A New Tale Rises
by allen Vth
Summary: "Is it strange to wake up and not know where you are? Is it strange to look completely different as if you were in someone else's body?" All of that is normal in a dream, but the longer it stays like that, the more it feels like a sick joke from reality.
1. Night's Friend (Part 1)

**(? POV)**

Is it strange to wake up and watch trees move past me? I don't know if I am running. All I know is, the vegetation of this forest is…surreal. It's hard to describe, but this place has-wait! This place…is a forest? It is a forest. It looks like it, but it looks strange.

Not just the forest, but it's also me. I don't feel like I am running and that's the strange part. I don't feel my body at all. I am just…there, watching how everything moves. Only now I notice the black haze around my vision, as if I am watching it through something other than my own eyes.

_A dream._ It probably explains all of this. Why else would I feel so lightheaded? It would also explain why I am here. Dreams always have a strange effect on people's minds, so that would make this…normal.

_Huh? _I think I distracted myself for a few seconds. Because in front of me lies a large pond that glimmers slightly from the light. As for the light itself, I can't tell if it's from the sun or the moon. _Why can't I… move my eyes?_ Dreams are difficult to control, that's a given, and I wasn't about to put the effort to change whatever is about to happen. Because it is also a given something is about appear out of thin air and scare me out of my sleep, I am used to it anyway.

For some unknown reason, my vision began turning around, and sure enough, something did appear in the end. However, it is something I never seen before. Something that doesn't even appear in horror movies or pop up videos. Genuinely speaking, it surprised me the enough to make me jump, move to the side or gasp and freeze from fear, but my _vision_ remained the same.

I did absolutely nothing as a – the only way I can describe it – bright green laser approaching me from afar.

It grew bigger and closer with a passing second, and reached me within the next. It flashed green for a moment before becoming pitch black. Did I fall headfirst or remained standing with my eyes closed.

…It could have been either because I probably feel unconscious before I hit the ground, or lost consciousness the moment my senses were gonna come back. This raised a weird question befitting this strange dream. _Is the dream going to continue, or am I about to wake up?_ Why was I thinking of this question, because whichever it is, I have no choice but to go along.

**(? Time Past)**

The faint sound of my breathing is the first thing that reaches my ears. I slowly open my eyes to start the daily routine: get out of bed, wash my teeth, check the day on my calendar, and change out of my night clothes before my brother teases me, once again, about being nocturnal. Not far from the truth. I preferred the night, since the only one awake at that time is me.

When my vision focused, I slowly thought something was odd. Instead of the near pitch blackness of the ceiling, I can see a dark-green high above me. Around it, there are things coming down and have great resemblance to pillars, but they are too dark to see their color or what they really are.

It might be me not believing what I am seeing, or that my brain is still asleep, but I am not thinking of anything. I am not scared or relaxed, only conscious.

I pushed myself up, and as I stood up, an unusual weight unbalanced my legs. I panicked. My hands darted to the sides to grab anything, and I fell on my knees first then chin second. I blame myself for this. _I could have used my hands to soften the fall or something like that. _

Without groaning from the hot pain on my chin or knees, I raised my head to see the same pond from my dream. Once again, I didn't give the oddity any thought. I crawled to it. Being the only thing that attracts my attention, and I also felt thirsty. Only imagining that cold-fresh water running down my throat made me lick my upper lips. _It's a strange feeling, but-_

My thoughts, and desire for water, got pushed aside by one of the rarest sights I seen in my entire life, and that is saying something considering the school I go to.

My head's reflection, or at least where it should be, has been replaced by an animal with round cheeks, black coat, eyes as dark as the night and a white uncombed fur covering its forehead.

I blinked a few times, and I assume it blinked with me. Now I did something I could actually see it do, tilt my head to the side. It did just that. I tilted it back to normal; it did the same. For the final test, I moved my head closer to the water; it moved along with me.

I stopped. My face hovering a few centimeters above the water. Whatever that foreign creature is, it is staring back at me, motionless like I am.

I can only suspect it is going to jump at me at any moment and drag me down the dark, bottomless waters that will _mysteriously_ appear. I waited a few seconds, but nothing happened, so I dipped my mouth for a drink. It did the same.

After I finished, we both pulled back in complete sync. I must have done it subconsciously, because now I am standing up, but it's not the _standing_ up I am used to. I looked underneath me to see the cylinder like legs of a black furred creature, and at a small distance behind them, an equal pair to the first two.

Something inside me turned on, and the idea worried me. I moved my gaze as fast as I could to scan my entire surroundings. At the least, I know where I am: a forest with celeste colored trees, grass all over the ground, and flowers growing from the bases of the tree that emit a soft, white glow from their long petals.

I noticed that the light reached halfway up the trees, but it was still enough for me to see the leaves covering the sky. Looking back down on the shallow waters, that creature with round cheeks, black colored eyes and coat, and a white messy mane that reaches down to its back is staring back at me with a flat expression.

"He…hehe." Its lips widened into a simple smile, "What did I eat last night? I had a lot of dreams before, but this," I turned to look at the endless amount of trees on my right "might actually be fun."

Curiosity or not, I grew excited over the surprises this dream may hold, and after one step forward into the unknown, a cold, merciless fear dug inside me.

Without apparent reason, the wind picked up and brought goosebumps to my body. With caution, I turned my head towards the lake, and as I did, I could tell how my eyes grow wider and my mouth becoming agape as the source of this terrifying nightmare comes into sight.

"I hope you enjoyed your freedom. Because your new cell will be closed off from your _precious_ light." Her voice echoed inside my head as my eyes had to travel up to meet her piercing – teal colored – dragon-like eyes. "This is a first. Nopony has ever eluded me for this long, but" just when I thought I was imagining wrong spelling grammar, I heard wings flapping, and this horse, pony, or whatever it is takes the air "once you are mine, you can never escape, Nightmare Moon!"

She ends with a bone-chilling laugh as her chin is held up high with pride.

I don't know why I stood there. Was I waiting for her to finish her laughter so she could _recapture_ me? Were my brain and body disconnected from the sheer pressure of the cold air? Is here presence that strong to paralyze me with fear?

It took a few moments for me to hear my breathing again, and only one thought crossed my mind, _RUN!_

I took in a mad dash towards-ANYWERE! Away from the pond! Away from her! I only have one goal now, and that is to **escape**!

I passed tree after tree, venturing myself into some unknown area in an already unknown forest, but as long as it creates distance between us, I wouldn't care if I ran into a monster-sized bear of some strange kind. *Pant* *Pant* *Pant* My body isn't made for running, yet, I am still going, probably from adrenaline.

After scanning the sides, I decided it was just best to keep running straight. Why exactly? Celeste colored tress as far as the eye could see, nothing else.

My mind is a complete blank for now; the sudden exercise is already taking one of its tolls on me, but one thing is clear, her laughter, the one that spurred a lingering fear into my body is gone.

A false sense of safety washes over my mind, but why is it false? One: an evil and possibly powerful crea – pony, a pony, appeared out of nowhere and incited the most horrible fear imaginable. Two: the white explosion on my right sends me flying in the opposite direction and then skidding into the hard grass.

A white light must be floating over my eyes because that is all I can see. I tried raising my head off the ground, and that's when my vision pulls through.

Up in the air, just under the limit the flower's light reaches, that black pony with wings, a horn on her head, and violet-blue armor is chuckling with a conceited smile. "If you are still trying to escape, at least try to make this amusing for me."

*Gulp* And without anything to say that could get rid of her smug, – like if I had anything that could do that – I managed to get on all fours and make another mad dash in a direction.

No time to process what is happening or why it's happening! No time to think of anything! All my focus is gathered on just **running!**

I could hear thunder raging down from the air, and explosion after explosion tore chunks of wood in random directions. My heart started beating faster as one of them got close enough for me to feel its power. It pushes me up into the air and to the direction where I am running to.

I still kept running even at the air; I acknowledged being up so high as I was dropping back down, "aaaaaAAAAAAAHHH!" I was able to place my hooves and legs firmly on the ground before skidding forward from the force; if I hadn't…it would've ended there for me.

As the momentum began to end, I used the left over-speed as the jump start to my running. They kept coming again, explosion after explosion; she clearly isn't going to give me a second to breathe.

"Is running all you can do? I expected more of a challenge from the pony who's made it this far."

Two sentences are all it takes to remind me of the fear I felt back at the pond, but there is something else that grabs my attention, something in the air itself.

Once I moved my gaze to the right, I felt how my body pulsed from within. It's the strangest thing indeed, to experience how a curtain of fear and death wraps itself around me like a cloak, and it happened the moment my eyes met her dragon eyes.

This pony named Nightmare Moon is flying close enough for me to feel a different kind of pressure from before. Instead of the cold void growing inside me, I feel empty, nonexistent, as if I lost everything and what remains is my consciousness. Her lips pull back into a grin, revealing sharp fangs that could chomp down any living creature.

I could feel a giant pulse coming once again from within, and before I knew it, my body has turned left on its own, venturing into another unknown part of the wilderness.

I kept my gaze up, looking ahead and never back. Trees everywhere, a white light coming from underneath my vision, darkness forward. Darkness, darkness, solid darkness everywhere.

I hadn't realized it until it was too late, for I am already rolling downwards out of control. The light from the flowers has left me a while ago and my sense of direction has been long gone when I first woke up, but now I can't tell where up and down is anymore. I am at least fortunate I haven't crashed against a tree or rolled over any rocks; the new bruises on my body and possible concussion are grave injuries on their own.

Then it ends. A dim light starts to brighten my vision; it's a hazy world I see. Everything has lost its shape, but as they came into focus, a new pair of hooves walked towards me.

Their brown coat is the last thing I saw before my eyes gave out.

**(? Time Past)**

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. I repeated this process as I laid over something warm and cozy; the same can be said of what's covering me from my neck to the toes, _a bed and a blanket most probably._ I can feel a patch and bandages over my body. _One bandage around my left wright, another at my left shoulder, my right elbow, around my stomach, the last one is around most of my right leg, and the patch is on my right cheek._ I find it ironic how I could tell where they all are; it must come from experience.

"He he, hehe. Hehehe." A girlish giggle filled the emptiness in my ears, and it was very close too.

My eyelids feel heavy as lead; I am struggling to do a simple task such as opening them. As I finally began to, the first thing to greet me is the smiling face of an unknown animal.

"I knew it. You are alive." In comparison to the other creature that tried hunting me down, this one looks like a smaller version of that pony, but her coat is brown, her eyes a sky blue and I see a little bit of a chocolate colored hair over her head. "I got a lot a lot a lot a lot a lot," she stops to take in a full pack of air through her mouth, "a lot of questions." Then her happy personality falls down as her eyes look to the side, "But mommy will get angry if I talk to you. She said 'don't bother the patient, even if she wakes up. Oh, and, you are grounded if you do.' So, yeah," her eyes met mine again, "I am grounded aren't I?"

She moves out of sight with a clear gloominess written over her.

At this point, the only option left for me is to sit up, or so I tried.

I put my hands firmly on the bed. My entire upper body trembles as my worn out muscles work beyond their limits.

At the end of this arduous task, I heard two bones from my back crack. A light dizziness soon takes over me, making my head wobble a few seconds. I closed my eyes to collect myself.

All that's happened, since I woke up, rushes into my mind as images. Her fangs – along with that grin – is the last image that flashes vividly like reality itself.

My eyes snap open, and I find myself breathing heavily again.

"I prayed to Celestia so the nightmare of Lostshine Forest leaves the sanctity of your dreams." I barely noticed what is in front of me, or should I say, the other side of this one-room house.

An older female pony – as I could tell from her voice – is standing on all fours next to a red bricked chimney, cooking something in one of those big old, black pots that hangs above the fire. One of the other differences to this one is her green coat, deep blue colored eyes, smooth forest green color mane combed down on one side, a horn on her head that matches the color of her coat, and some kind of tattoo on her behind – and I didn't notice it because I am some kind of pervert, but because it stands out – that looks like leaves, each with a different color, spinning around as if in a vortex. The ones closer on the edges of the 'vortex' are bigger than the ones in the center, making the whole act of spinning more lifelike.

The pony moves her hoof up to cover its mouth, but I can still hear her feminine laughter, "I might look young, but I am thirty five years old. Older than what you should be looking for." For a reason or another, she winks at me.

I, after what she implied and did, obviously become flustered. "No No No No No No No!" I kept repeating as I raised my hands up and shook them like my head.

"Mommy is only jokiiing~" I stop then look at my right. Apparently ponies have elbows, because she placed hers over the blue bed sheet and rested her chin on her hooves, "Momma looves teasing." Then she puffs her cheeks, and her eyes move in direction to her mother with a slight annoyance in them, "But Momma says I can't do it. She says 'it's bad playing with ponys' emotions'"

"But you made a habit of teasing _everypony_ you see." I sensed no hint of a mother's disapproval tone, but more of how a friend points out another friend's problems with a wholeheartedly laugh.

The little pony's jaw dropped as her eyes went wide as circles, "M-M-MOOOM!"

Once more, I look at the other Pony. She still has a hoof over her mouth, but her eyes are close as her shoulders tremble. Obviously from containing her laughter.

And once more, that light dizziness comes back. This time I held my forehead to keep it from moving.

When my mind stopped spinning on me, I slowly moved my hand away. My mind half-absent as I did. How did I know that about myself? Because instead of my mind driven to insanity, the circular black hoof near my face got me pondering. _Where have I seen this before?_

I didn't see the hoof of that black Pony, _But this should be his… or hers. That was the only time I saw a black Pony. Who else's could it b-_

I thought about everything that has happened, one final time, in detail. _I suddenly woke up next to a pond_. I never seen it before nor I have recollection of how I got there._ Normal for a dream. _Got chased around by a monster in a pony disguise that appeared out of thin air, and felt an inexplicable amount of fear that can only be felt after watching an M-rated horror movie. _Normal for any kind of nightmare. _It was the last portion I have a hard time figuring out; the part where I rolled down a hill. _That hurt me all over. The bandages and the patch are proof of that. It was dark, but it felt like if the entire world was spinning. _

My head did circles around it, thinking of an answer. That was until I noticed a peculiar, white thing under the hoof. Right around where I assume is the elbow, there is a white bandage wrapped tightly on it. _Just like on my right elbow._

_Pain, bandage on the same place as my right arm, a hoof where a hand should be, but most importantly, __**pain**__. _A connection is slowly starting to be made. _It's impossible. First of all, how-_

"Is your hair a natural?" I am pulled out of my thoughts by the small brown pony. She is in the same position I first saw her in, "Mommy always trims mine, see?" By moving her head to the side, I can see the chocolate colored hair on her head has been combed back and tight neatly by a yellow hairband near the neck, and it keeps going as the shape of oval beads with yellow hairbands wrapped between each of them and ending with a ponytail that reaches her shoulder. "How do you do yours?"

"M-Mine?" There wasn't really anything special about it.

"Yeah! Like," Moving away from the bed, she lowers herself down and scans what's under it.

_What's she looking for?_

She shots right back up with an enthusiastic grin on both sides, "That's right, we have, as my mom calls it, 'Don't touch it or its gonna slip right on its back, sweetie. Oh, and, you are grounded if you do.'" After that extra information, she turns around to point at a rectangular mirror leaning on the wall.

As the chimney and the other Pony, this mirror is also on the other side of the house, but at least my vision is strong compared to the rest of me. At least, I thought it was.

_Am I, seeing this right?_ It's undoubtedly the same pony from the pond. The same dark coat, dark eyes, and the same white, messy, spiky hair reaching to its back with the occasional rare smooth strands that found its way throughout that mess called hair. "I-It's…a natural."

"Aawww. I wanted wacky hair too." I could hear her sad tone, but I wasn't listening to it. The details on that black Pony got me entranced on it. It's sitting like I am, a bandage wrapped around it's stomach, a patch on its left cheek and another bandage wrapped on its left elbow. However, I knew better because that is supposed to be a reflection. A reflection of whoever is sitting on the bed with the blue blanket, and what's worse, they are all in the same place where I felt my patch and bandages.

_Felt, again with that feeling. I felt thirst when I woke up. It shouldn't be too weird for a dream. It would have been odd if I looked like myself in a dream. Because the imaginary world is almost never in terms with normality, so I was bound to look different, but dreams themselves are always changing. They never stay the same for too long, and they are short lived for most people; it's no different for me. So why? Why am I still a Pony?_

My body pulses again from within, but this time, it's warm. It clears away a certain weight off my mind, as if it's trying to reanimate a dead mind. I am not thinking straight, even if the answer is right in front of me.

I turn my attention at the black hoof in the air. _No…it's impossible. But why is it impossible?_ A different voice in my mind objected, _It just…it just __**is**__ impossible._

"Hey miss," It was in such a low voice I almost didn't hear it, but the little brown Pony called my attention again. Her hooves are on the edge of the bed as she hides her face behind them. Just looking at her eyes, I can tell she's apprehensive about telling me whatever she wants to tell me, "I didn't wanna say, but," her eyes stop meeting my gaze, "do you, umm, sweat alot?"

"W-What do you mean?" I don't know when it happened, but I must have begun sweating when I thought of that possibility. The same possibility I am most frightened of being the truth.

I begin taking heavier breathes as the hoof in front of me trembles. Not willingly, but because of a natural reaction of my body when faced by a brutal, twisted reality.

"Can I ask another question?" She pulled me out of my thoughts again, and I see her wear a little smile after she rose up behind her hooves.

"S-Sure." _This can't get any worse._

"Do you," her tone quickly changes from calm to enthusiastic, "do you wanna be my big sister!?"

I felt myself flinching; her words pierced right through me. "W-W-W-WHAT!?" If I wasn't shaking before, I am shaking now.

She leans closer to me with those eyes magically sparkling from excitement, "I promise it will be soooo much fun! I can take the role of the clumsy and energetic little sis, and you can be the big sis who acts like a young adult and scares ponies with the _eye_."

And as to emphasize her point, she closes one eye while widening the other one and pointing at it with a hoof.

_T-That is actually a close description of me…for the most part. But SIS! I knew my physique gave people the wrong impression about me, but even HERE! My body changes into a pony, but that 'aspect' of me didn't?!_

"What do you think?" She has backed away by now, and her hooves are up covering what I can surely assume is an energetic smile.

"I-I-I-I-I-I," I forgot how unmanly my voice sounded; it isn't entirely feminine, but it barely matches the pitch of a young boy's.

Her eyes close before letting out a loud, girlish squeal, "EEEEEEEEEEHH! This. Will. Be. Amazing!" She rises up on her hind legs and stretches her arms up high; then goes sitting back down while acting out what she says, "We can trim out hair together, pick up flowers together, grow older together like real sisters," she grabs a green quilt out of nowhere, wraps it around her like a blanket and poses like an old granny. She tosses it away before continuing, "And we can tell each other secrets like real sisters would."

_I got plenty of secrets to tell you! Like this one: I'm a GUY!_ I can feel my head going in circles. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Never-ending.

What has happened to me this morning can cause anyone to freak out and act as a messed-up maniac! But This, this is my limit! No! I probably reached it after that little trip down the hill; this is causing unnecessary damage.

And just like that, a little fuse in me must have burned out. Because the next color I saw is pitch black, and the next sound, a loud *thud*, probably my head colliding with either the wood frame on the wall or the solid planks on the floor.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Technically, this story will also be at , so why do I even have it here? Because I already have a different story in here, and even then, it would feel like if I am completely abandoning Fanfiction. I debated over this weeks before this chapter even had a word on it, and I came to this decision.

Heads up for everyone, this story is going to places. Which means it will have _alot_ of surprises.


	2. Night's Friend (Part 2 of 3)

**(? POV)**

_I hated my life to some extent, but never did I want it to change. I got used to it, and learned to appreciate what I did have, so now…now that I am here…_

That black pony in front of me is sitting with such a depressive look that only makes me feel gloomier. Its bandages and patch are on the opposite to where mine are, _Again with that excuse? This is you, accept it._

I put my hoof over my eyes, wishing that when I uncovered them, I be in my bed and then receive a light scolding from my brother for sleeping too long. _I have to accept reality. I have to! If I don't…what would I do then? …That's a silly question, I have no idea what to do even now._

When I was finally man enough to stop seeing the truth, I turned my attention to a plain, black saddlebag next to the mirror. Apparently, I been wearing that the moment Pebbles – the name of the little brown pony – found me unconscious in the forest. _For a little girl, I am surprised she dragged me to her home._

Another thing I obliviously missed and now noticed, is the tail on my behind. A genuine tail; its white too, just like my hair. Comparing it to Pebbles, and her mother, Fauna, I got the idea they are supposed to resemble our mane.

Starting with Fauna for example, her mane is smooth and pulled down on one side; her tail has basically the same silky appearance with the end barely touching the ground.

Pebbles' is combed as a braid with it ending as a short ponytail tight by a light blue bow.

As for mine…mine is exactly like my mane. Its messy, strands of hair combined to form triangular spikes on the edges, random smooth hair, and looks thick, as if I wouldn't be able to pass my hoof between it even if I wanted to – even if it is made of hair.

_I was never a morning person, and even when I do wash it, I…I_ – I flinched at the thought of it. _Forget it! No! Not gonna remember that! That 'life' of me is ove-_

I stopped myself, already figuring out where that train of thought was headed. The anger that spread in the pony's black eyes died out faster than they appeared, leaving an almost unshakable look of depression in his eyes.

_I…I better think of something that does make sense._

That brings my attention to the house I am in. I slept in their bed, their _only_ bed, for a good six hours; on the opposite side to it, there is the mirror I am currently in front of. Next to it is the black saddlebag I carried – during that chase with Nightmare Moon – without noticing. The wall perpendicular to it, which also has the door, is adorned with a lot of frames with black and white pictures, _I can check those later._

On the other side of the house, Pebbles and Fauna are in front of the chimney, cooking something in that giant old pot. That's when I noticed a blue light being emitted by the tip of her horn, and the same surrounding spoon that is swirling in circles in the pot. To the right of them, is the other half of the kitchen; cabinets, plates, a round table and eight wooden stools.

_That's basically everything that makes sense. Its definitely not modern, but this house can still be called sweet home._ My eyes went back to my reflection, and I can see a bit of sleepiness in my eyes, but that's all there is in them.

_Now what?_ I asked myself. I take notice of the bag again, _Peebles said there is something in it. A book. I think she said it's a book._

There is something in it. A clue to how I got here…maybe, but I am not ready. It's hard to tell what it is, but I feel scared. Scared of what's inside the book won't help me at all.

_I should take a look at the pictures. Who knows, maybe there is a clue there. _I knew better, but anything to keep me occupied. And so, as I head towards them, that piece of false hope is what's keeping me from emotionally sinking back down.

When I could finally take a good look at them, I can assume they are normal family pictures. They don't grab most of my attention at first, – it's just ponies replacing the spot of humans – but there is something I noticed from the pictures. Two things in fact.

One: male ponies have a slightly bulkier, and often bigger physique. _Which is probably not true for most male ponies…not counting myself. _Two: the pictures are not just in black and white, but they are old, _really_ old. I can see wrinkles, some of the edges look torn, and now that I notice, the frames have cracks. _Just how old are this?_

Then one picture really catches my attention. What I see is Fauna, smiling gently alongside another pony that looks just like her while. In the background, I can see the grass on the ground and near them, the abundance of tall trees that seem to have no end; the trees' height literally puts their leaves and branches out of sight.

At first, I thought it was a reflection, or that ponies tend to look like each other more than humans, but I quickly scratched that off. They look so much alike, but that is probably because the picture has no color. _Is that…her t-_

"My twin sister, Flora."

I nearly jumped at hearing Fauna's voice next to me, and as I began to control my heartbeat, I also listened.

"Flora…she was more than a sister, but a best friend as well."

_Did I…did I just hear…sadness?_

"ha ha ha ha ha," even her laugh lacked true emotion, but I kept my gaze on the picture with the two of them together, "we used to run out of home and play with the animals of Lostshine Forest. We did get lost here and there, but at least we always found our way back. Hehehe ha ha ha ha ha ha," this time, her laugh is more genuine, *sigh* "Flora was always the oldest, but acted as the youngest. And when the time came for us to take charge, she had no problem with me leading the family in most occasions. She never showed it, but Flora cared the most for the safety of our family."

I can hear her footsteps – or hoofsteps, considering the grammar they use, hoofsteps is probably right – walking away from me. I followed her and stopped in front of another picture.

It has ponies lined up in front of a house; by appearances (wrinkles, sizes, physique), I can tell some of them are kids, most of them are adults and a few are old ponies. It's the very representation of what a family portrait is about: cheery smiles while standing in front of a house that can be called home, sweet home.

_Home…a really distant, but distant, thing for me._

"This picture was taken when Flora and I were just fillies, but even then, our elders expected us to…_outshine_ what the Brightwood family has accomplished so far. …I don't believe I told you that name yet, have I? No, I don't believe I have," as Fauna answers her own question, my focus fall on the trees in the background, and find one similarity to the ones where Fauna and her sister took their picture. I can't see the top of the trees. Not a branch or leaf is visible, only the bodies of the trees. But with one bigger difference is what's growing at the base of the trees, the same long leaved flowers I saw after waking up.

"The Brightwood family is…_was_ a given the self-appointed duty to discover, or rediscover, the secrets of nature magic. It was a silly concept for most ponies. They believed, since we can already aid and change the environment when the time calls, there is no need to research a natural force we can control. …But would you believe, when I say they were wrong?"

I move my gaze off the picture and on to her, and see her already looking at me back with a motherly smile, "There was somepony long ago – according to old legends – whose magic and cutie mark were one with nature. I can see why others thought of those legends as made up fairy tales for fillies, I was no different back then, but my grandparents knew better. And after every failure they made, only _made_ them more eager to understand."

Her eyes travel back to the family portrait, and mine do so as well, "They gathered every symbol from the legends, connected them to the real world, and saw what they were missing." The more I listened, the more I realized how excited she has become, "My grandparents said that the legends called this pony, The Violent Gaia: a pony with magical prowess that matches an alicorn, and had a special connection with the earth. That's why we came here, to this forest; it had everything they needed! Lostshine Forest had a strong connection to the nature, much like The Violent Gaia once had! Combined with their magic, it took them Months what it would have taken anypony Centuries without the strong connection!"

This is the second time I ever heard anyone truly passionate about what they are saying; the first time I heard anything similar came from my brother.

"Nopony expected this! When I saw it for myself, my first thoughts were 'I'm probably dreaming.' I believed it was impossible; everypony in Equestria thought the same, but they created it! They named it, Gaia's Blossoms, as a tribute to the original creator!"

I could hear her breathe in a pack of air. After that nonstop monologue, it is only natural to be out of breath. _This really means something for her. Whatever her grandparents invented, it must have been that important._ But after I turned to face her, Fauna's ecstatic personality had died out and replaced by a downcast look.

"F-Fauna, w-what's wrong?" _Greaaat choice of words, consider yourself a __**man**__ now,_ the sarcasm I added actually hurt more than intended.

"I'm sorry."

My eyes widened, _What!?_ That wasn't something I was expecting.

Fauna moves her hair to cover one of her deep-blue colored eyes, and turns her head to the side while doing so – completely blocking all view of me –, "Young ponies never want to listen to a sentimental story about the past; all they would ever spend their free time on is to play outside with other ponies their age, and exchange stories of ponies they admire. I'm sorry if I bored you; I never intended to ramble on if you weren't interested."

"I-I wasn't bored. I promise." It didn't have that _manly_ confidence, but I did mean it. _Now that I think about it, I didn't do those things she said young ponies do, even though I am a bit older from what she means of 'young'. …Who knows, maybe it's better I came to this strange world of equally strange unicorns. I can start a new li – who am I kidding. I just wanna go back home._ That mental state I desperately fought back is returning, threatening me with its never-ending presence.

"I'm sorry." That takes me by surprise. My mind refocuses on Fauna, and what I see is her smiling at me. In a way, it does make me feel better. Such a kind gesture, and it's better than watching her depressed. _But the way she sounded, it's as if…as if she knew I was feeling like this._

"Every~pony with a growling belly, line up! IIIt's su~pper **TIIIIIME**!" Pebble's voice resonated loud and clear, and inside the small house with its close walls, the lasting echo it produced made me cringe by its volume alone. Fauna didn't seem affected at all, _That's right. I'm just sensitive to this stuff._

She turns her head towards her daughter, "We will be over there in a minute." Once done, she turns back to me, "Mind joining us?"

"Y-Yes."

"Yes as to you will eat with us, or yes do you mind eating with us?" She finishes by moving a hoof over her mouth and failing to stifle back a lighthearted chuckle.

I won't deny that it didn't make me laugh, "Ha ha…" But it also got me embarrassed. _I-It was fun, just like with my brother_, then I got such an unpleasant foreboding feeling. It's hard to tell what it is exactly, but it feels like I am forgetting something very important.

"You must uphold your status as a gentlecolt by not keeping two fillies waiting," my mind refocused – yet again – and see Fauna looking at me with a taunting smile.

"Y-Yeah, after you," as I _tried _to make a courteous bow (tried), I got a giggle out of her. Then we were finally heading towards the kitchen, but on the way, I spotted myself on the mirror. I still have those bandages and one patch.

A couple of seconds past before I gently pulled out the taped cloth off my cheek. Under it, is piece of my black coat that hardly looks different from the rest, _…I am just sensitive everywhere. There was a bruise in there before, I am sure, but now it's gone._ _Goes to show how much pain my body can handle, and how much __**I'm **__willing to. _Not wanting to stare at my reflection any longer, I removed all the bandages, then took out the only item inside my saddlebag, and walked over to the table where the girls were waiting.

* * *

I figured eating wasn't going to be completely normal, but there are a few things I can relate as a human.

First: we are sitting on the stools as a normal person would. Two: the food is – what I can guess – tomato soup in a bowl, like the ones I use for cereal, and there are actual utensils to use. Third: there isn't really a third.

_Teachers say that staring at a problem never solves it. If you know it, you do. If you don't, you don't. It is that simple._ I move my gaze from the metal spoon I tried to pick up about 20 times, to the two ponies who are eating without any trouble.

Pebbles is – somehow – grabbing the spoon with her hoof, that has no fingers and looks impossible in every logical aspect. She is practically devouring the contents of her bowl, moving her spoon in and out of her little pony mouth before putting it down on the table, then picking up her bowl with her hooves and chucking down whatever was left.

Fauna's horn was lighted in the color of blue, and the same light surrounded the spoon that floats into her mouth whenever she is ready to take another sip of her food. Compared to her daughter, she is taking her time to taste the 'fruits' of her work.

Then at last, my eyes traveled back to my untouched bowl. _No option. Going with plan Pebbles. _I picked up the bowl between my hooves, carefully as well so I wouldn't spill, and chugged down at a slow space for the well-being of my tongue.

My absent-mindedness strikes back, for my stomach demanded furiously for me to keep going. This sudden hunger surprised me, but after all the running I did, it should have been the first thing in mind when I woke up. That is, if wasn't chased in a forest by a monster in pony disguise, rolled down a cliff, have no idea where I am, and been turned into a pony that still matches one of my human characteristics I wished wouldn't have carried over; all those other problems took priority over hunger.

One finished with the _entire_ soup, I put down the empty bowl and exhaled in satisfaction. _I have never been that hungry before. All that running really had a big effect on me._

I could feel my mind awakening from its deep slumber, and my senses returning back to normal. _I can't believe it. I wasn't hungry, I was __**starving**__! This is the best I ever felt! Or maybe Fauna's cooking is better than my brother's chef skills! Calm down, you need to calm down. Focus on what's important._

At the corner of my eye I spotted it, the black book that was in the saddlebag I carried. _Is that…really my book? I don't remember having that, and this book's cover is difficult to forget._

I moved the bowl aside and put the book in its place. The front cover, the only side with anything on it, has been embroidered with a _peculiar _design to say the least.

It's three, interlocked white ovals with a sharp edge each; one of them points up while the other two point downwards diagonally – appearing to be the legs of the first one. Another _peculiar _detail about the ovals are where they start and end…because I don't see them; they look to be one and the same, but their shapes made me think they were only close together. The last figure that was stitched is of a white ring that travels under, then over the other side of the fused ovals.

_This is a…this is a…a…a…? …Tri…triquetra something. A symbol that's been made long ago, and…how I wish I were a real bookworm. I read books for school work and for personal fun, but I think I seen this once and that's about it._

Grabbing the book by moving my hooves under it is easier than picking up a spoon. Once balanced on a hoof, I opened it with the other, and with my very eyes saw the unexpected.

…_What!? Is this...a-are my eyes alright? T-The pages, they are…Blank!_

I blinked a couple of times, convinced that my eyes are playing a sick trick on me. But the missing content remained the same, missing. _Hmmm…missing. A book with this many pages can only serve for something like that._

A blue light manifests around the book, "Huh?" In a second, it levitates into the air and slowly drifts away from me, "What!?" _W-What is happening!? Why is that book floating?_

The answer came when I looked at who it is heading to: Fauna.

"F-F-Fauna, why?!"

Before giving a proper answer, she covered her mouth with a hoof again, but this time, I can see a glimpse of what – what I can only imagine – is a mischievous smile.

My body tensed and I became nervous of what she might say.

"What do we have here? A book. Could this maybe hold some personal embarrassing pictures you stole from your family album?"

I blinked twice. Surprised can't begin to describe what I am feeling, especially when my cheeks burn as if they are on fire, _W-w-w-w-w-what? What? S-she…She is scary, but at least those pictures are hidden inside my pillow, in the human world I mean._ My mind thought back about them, especially in when they were taken.

"Maybe back to the time you were wearing dippers."

_WHAAAAAAT!?_ I flinched back as if a small, but venomous spider had appeared right in front of me. _H-How did she know that!?_

Once it stops next to her, the book opens on its own, and all it takes is for her eyes to fall on the invisible content for that creepy smile to disappear. What's left is a clear look of confusion, "You seemed tensed at what you saw." Part of that unsettling smile returns, "And here I felt it was something that could give us a glimpse to your past."

_You say it like if it's actually going to help me with my other problem, but you were __**actually**__ going to invade personal privacy! _With that said in my head, – not that it will ever matter though – the temperature on my cheeks began cooling down.

She puffs her cheeks, turns her head to the side as the book floats back towards me, "You could have stopped me. I used the frailest magic to levitate your book. Poking it would have been enough to break the spell."

…_That's where Pebbles learned when to puff her cheeks. _I still haven't gotten over the weirdness of a world filled with ponies, and the concept of magic as well, to immediately realize what just occurred. _…D-Did she just, did Fauna just-_

"IIIT'S PACKING TIIIIME!"

Sensitive or not, this one was right in my ear, making both my heart and body jump from their place. My body ends up colliding with the ground, shoulder first (thankfully didn't break any bones), and my heart is beating three times its normal pulse.

I rolled to my back to look at the little brown pony on the table. Pebbles is wearing a bright-blue celeste colored scarf. The same color as the trees in the only forest I ever ran for my life – and I pray for that experience to never happen again.

"Pack up! We are Leaaa~ving!" She finishes with a gingery smile; her eyes staring back at me expectantly.

First, I press a hoof down on my chest to keep my heart from bursting out. Second, I take a deep breath through my mouth to revive my voice. "What is this - ," from the depths of my stomach, the once chugged soup is fighting its way up towards the exit. I managed to fight it midway in the throat and re-swallow it back down. Just to be on the safe side, I put a hoof – the one that was on my chest – on my mouth in case it tried to come up, but instead of coming back up, it left two things behind: an aftertaste that makes me want to puke willingly this time, and my least favorite of all, pain.

Pebbles is still looking at me, waiting, and unlike me, she has life in her eyes and a body that will get stronger with the years.

I was able to conquer the disgusting taste left behind to finally uncover my mouth, but still remained lying on the floor to repose better, "We are…leaving?" My pulse has nearly returned to normal.

She shakes her head excitedly while repeating "Yeah yeah yeah" for about two or three seconds. Then she continues without much physical movement, other than her mouth, "This is the day where we finally leave Lostshine Forest and go somewhere else."

I was about to ask why they are leaving, but I remembered the reason, and experienced it, "Nightmare Moon." I spoke the name as soon as I thought of it. "That's the…pony we are trying to escape from."

I don't know when, but at some point after saying the name Nightmare Moon, Pebbles smile banished to reveal the grimmest, most serious expression I ever seen in someone so young. I thought I seen a lot, but her icy hollowed glare puts me on the edge of another mental breakdown – where I faint at cause of my inability to cope with the problems.

"What we are escaping…is this place." I blinked in surprise, and that's the only response I can do at this point, "The forest that reeks of death."

People go through hell in occasions, that's just life, but what I gone through in a few hours is not something life would normally use to torture someone. _Why? Why is my life like this? Why can't I wake up one time and say the day will turn out boring or normal?_

Waking up in a foreign land can be fixed by finding a way back home – even being stuck in a different world, since there was a way to get in, then there is a way to get out. Being chased by someone means to run nonstop; to keep moving until you can't run no more. But the unknown, I don't know how to deal with that. Its unpredictable; one's insecurities are easily revealed in the most hectic of situations. And what she just said I don't understand. It's impossible for me to handle something I don't get.

Pebbles blinks, and in that short span of milliseconds, her gingerly smile returns with a lively tone in her eyes, "Get ready~. Leaving somepony behind is never good." She closes her eyes and tilts her head, "For mine and mommy's conscience, and for your well-being as well."

It was almost a wasted struggle, but I finally managed to place a hoof on the table, and pull myself up from the ground.

Panting, and half-dazed after the experience with Pebbles, which could have given me a heart attack, I took on a resting position.

A cheek placed on the table with my han-hoofs on it as well. _What other choice do I have? None, that's the answer. I have to…I have no other choice __**but**__ to go with them. They can…keep me safe. I am not ashamed to admit it, but there is no way I can survive on my own._

With that set in my mind, I pushed myself up to stand on my hind legs – with the support from the table, it wasn't too difficult. I only did so to get my body active, lying down on the floor for so long made me want to sleep once more and not care what happens anymore. And standing on all fours feels…unnatural, like if I am a costume that was made for someone bigger than me.

Then I noticed it, after my attention shifted from the uncomfortableness of my body, to what is plainly lying in front of me. My book, opened.

…_F-Fauna…she did put this after…Pebbles screamed at my ear. _A cold shiver runs from my flickering ears down to my spine. If a single second of that memory made me tremble, I won't dare to remember the rest.

I took notice of the pages, because all I have to do is glance to see that - _…What? …When?_

_After I faced the nightmare of Sunshine Forest, I knew what to do next._

_W-when did this…when did this get written?_ To make things even more odd, that's the only text I can find out of all the pages. And I mean no matter how many pages I turn over, I am greeted by the same white surface.

* * *

**Author's Notes: the only excuse I got is that the charger of my laptop broke last Saturday, not the Saturday that just past, the other one. And so I was unable to finish it in that time since I do most of the work in the weekend.**

**But enough about that and the other issues it caused as well, how about I mention some good news regarding this story of mine. It will include so many twists here and there as to were this whole story is going to go. It's no exaggeration when I say I got a lot planned for this already.**


End file.
